…Except I do know when I’ll be back again. However, for the next 10 days or so, irregular updates to this blog.

Courtesy of the Philippine Ambassador to Washington, D.C., I’ll be attending a formal ceremony in the Philippine Embassy during which the four Frieder brothers will be recognized by being posthumously conferred the Order of Lakandula. Also to be decorated will be the head of the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education, Racelle Weiman, and Frank Ephraim, whose book brought the story of the Philippines giving refuge to the Jews to the attention of the world. This will be on May 18, in which Sec. Romulo will be representing the President of the Philippines. While In Washington, I’ll also be doing some preliminary research on a biography of Raul S. Manglapus which the Konrad Adenauer Foundation has commissioned me to write.

Official schematic of the Order of Lakandula’s insignia, courtesy of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The original design was by Eric Agoncillo Ambata.

I have a special affection for the Order of Lakandula, because it was my responsibility, while working for the President, to not only draft and shepherd through the approval process, the Honors Code of the Philippines, but to draft the criteria for the Order of Lakandula, established by that Order, and even attend to the design and manufacture of the Order of Lakandula. The aesthetic considerations I bore in mind involved the need to come up with an authentically Filipino design, and one, in particular, suitable for Muslims, as the Order might be conferred on people involved in conflict resolution: all too often, national orders follow the model of Christian Orders, with their elaborate crosses, for example. The design of the Order of Lakandula includes the Philippine sun (modified, of course), the Alibata script (which spells out “Lakandula”) and designs that hark back to prehispanic gold jewelery. Originally, a design from the Manunggul jar was included, but the National Historical Institute pointed out some cultures might take offense at funeral adornments being included in the insignia. The color of the Order is royal blue.

Executive Order 236, the Honors Code of the Philippines, provided for the Order of Lakandula and the criteria for its conferment:

Sec. 5, II of the E.O. says,

Order of Lakandula

The Order of Lakandula is an Order of political and civic merit awarded in memory of LakandulaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s dedication to the responsibilities of leadership, prudence, fortitude, courage and resolve in the service of oneÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s people.

The Order of Lakandula is conferred upon a Filipino or foreign citizen:

a. who has demonstrated by his life and deeds a dedication to the welfare of society;b. whose life is worthy of emulation by the Filipino people;c. for deeds worthy of particular recognition, including suffering materially for the preservation and defense of the democratic way of life and of the territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines, for devoting his life to the peaceful resolution of conflict, or for demonstrating an outstanding dedication to the fostering of mutual understanding, cultural exchange, justice and dignified relations among individuals; ord. for acts that have been traditionally recognized by the institution of presidential awards, including meritorious political and civic service.

The Order of Lakandula shall be composed of the following ranks:

Grand Collar (Supremo) Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Conferred upon an individual who has suffered materially for the preservation and defense of the democratic way of life or of the territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines; or upon a former or incumbent head of State and/or of government

Grand Cross (Bayani) Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Conferred upon an individual who has devoted his life to the peaceful resolution of conflict; upon an individual whose life is worthy of emulation by the Filipino people; or upon a Crown Prince, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House, Chief Justice or the equivalent, foreign minister or other official of cabinet rank, Ambassador, Undersecretary, Assistant Secretary, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoing

Grand Officer (Maringal na Pinuno) Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Conferred upon an individual who has demonstrated a life-long dedication to the political and civic welfare of society; or upon a Charge dÃ¢â‚¬â„¢affaires, e.p., Minister, Minister Counselor, Consul General heading a consular post, Executive Director, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoing

Commander (Komandante) – Conferred upon an individual who has demonstrated exceptional deeds of dedication to the political and civic welfare of society as a whole; or upon a Charge dÃ¢â‚¬â„¢affaires a.i., Counselor, First Secretary, Consul General in the consular section of an Embassy, Consular officer with a personal rank higher than Second Secretary, Director, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoing

Officer (Pinuno) Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Conferred upon an individual who has demonstrated commendable deeds of dedication to the political and civic welfare of society as a whole; or upon a Second Secretary, Consul, Assistant Director, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoing

What is all this business about orders, and ranks? Even members of our diplomatic service are confused. The best way to understand a national Order is to think of it as a confraternity of merit; basically, an Order is a group composed of individuals recognized as meritorious by the government; the group has different ranks, based on actual achievement or their standing in government and the bureaucracy. Think of the way the Knights of Rizal or the Knights of Columbus, for example, are organized. The President, who has the authority and privilege, by law, to determine who gets to be a member of what, then appoints someone to be a member of an order, and confers the insignia of that order (the medal, usually), together with a diploma or certificate. In the case of National Artists, Scientists, or Social Scientists and Manlilikha ng Bayan, their achievement is recognized by the President by way of a proclamation to the nation; the artist or scientist thus recognized then becomes a member of the order concerned.

Amazing! I’ve always been wanting to read on the Honors Code because there was a sash (red and gold) that PGMA was wearing during the wedding of Sultan Bolkiah’s son last year and I’m been trying to look for photos I can use to identify what it was.

Dylan, ganito yan. The photo of Aguinaldo has him wearing a sash as commander-in-chief, in the spanish style. But not even he adopted the Latin American habit of having a presidential sash as a symbol of office. Whenever you see a President with a sash, its the ribbon of an order. My grandfather wore the sash of the Order of the Republic of Spain during his inauguration in 1935; no president wore a sash thereafter. Your photo of Marcos has him wearing the sash of the Philippine Legion of Honor, degree of chief commander, which was given him by the AFP in 1971.

Ivan Henares

I was wondering where I could get a list of recipients of the:
Order of Lakandula
Order of Sikatuna
Philippine Legion of Honor
Order of Gabriela Silang
Gawad Mabini
Order of the Golden Heart
Presidential Medal of Merit

Ivan Henares

Really? I could imagine how difficult that is. But you have the citations to base them on right? What’s the difference between National Scientist and National Social Scienist? I’m wondering since you have social scientists in the list of National Scientists.

Dear MLQ3,
I have a list of some of the awardees of the Presidential Medal of Merit(all 119 of them from 1954? to 1970), PLOH (commander, officer,legionnaire), Rizal Palm awards, and Rizal Pro-patria award. If you are interested to have them just let me know.
May I ask if you have a picture of the Quezon Service Cross?
Thanks.

dr. blas, google for eo 236 and title, and it should be available to you, if not, email me, and ill send you a copy. email me and ill send you a copy of the photo i have of the quezon cross and yes, i’d appreciate your rosters very much.

Christopher Catubig y Leones

Is it possible for a mere student leader to be awarded with distinction as to the honors given by the Philippine Republic, for example EO 236?

Please Sir Quezon, I beg you to please send me a copy of EO 236. Hindi ko po kasi makita sa internet and full 100% provisions na na-stated dito. I have only seen a very few provisions of it, and most of it are in your column in this website.

jen capulong

is this the latest award malacaÃ±ang gave pacquiao? i can see no merits in any of the qualifications above. pls disregard post kung hindi ito yun (or kung na-amend na ang qualifications in the past 4yrs).